The feds say he was flying a false flag.
A bankrupt foundry owner was busted yesterday for allegedly trying to scam $11 million by peddling an unauthorized copy of Jasper Johns’ 1960 “Flag” sculpture.
Brian Ramnarine allegedly duplicated the bronze artwork after Johns hired him in 1990 to make a wax cast of the piece.
Ramnarine, 58, began offering the fake for sale in 2010 and eventually scored a letter of interest from an unidentified collector, according to his Manhattan federal court indictment.
But suspicions about its authenticity led the FBI to get involved, and Ramnarine, who insisted yesterday that he was “set up,” said the feds seized the sculpture in a sting operation at a Manhattan storage facility.
Ramnarine, who pleaded not guilty to wire fraud, faces up to 20 years if convicted.